Zuckerberg's net worth evaporated by more than half! For the first time in seven years, he slipped out of the top ten of the world's richest list!

It is learned that Forbes magazine confirmed in its latest edition of the 400 richest American billionaires that in just one year, Zuckerberg slipped from the world's third richest person to the top ten, ranking 11th, behind Walmart heir Jim Walton (US$57.9 billion) and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (US$76.8 billion).

This means that Zuckerberg lost more than half of his wealth in one year, leaving only $57.7 billion after $76.8 billion evaporated. This was mainly affected by the plummeting Meta stock price: Meta's stock price evaporated 57% in the past 12 months. This is the first time that Zuckerberg has slipped out of the top 10 of the world's richest list since 2015.

Zuckerberg first became a billionaire in 2008, just four years after founding Facebook. At 23, he was the youngest self-made billionaire at the time, debuting on the Forbes 400 at No. 321 with a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Why is Zuckerberg's wealth declining?

Technology stocks have generally fallen over the past year, and the market downturn has caused Meta to fall more than the Nasdaq (-9.8%) and the S&P 500 (-13.5%). Microsoft also fell 14%, Alphabet and Amazon also fell 25% and 27%, respectively.

Apple's updated privacy policy last year made it harder for Meta to track users across its apps, dealing a heavy blow to Meta's ad sales division.

Meta is worried that TikTok is attracting advertisers and Generation Z and millennial users who are full of business opportunities. In February, Meta announced its first quarter of daily active user loss. According to the Wall Street Journal, a recent internal report shows that Meta's Instagram Reels, which imitates TikTok, is trying to grab a share of the market.

Zuckerberg lost millions in the Metaverse

Under normal circumstances, the small drop in revenue might be manageable, but as Meta invested heavily in VR and the Metaverse, it dragged down operating profits. In 2021, Meta's Metaverse division, Meta Reality Labs, lost $10 billion.

According to Forbes estimates, Zuckerberg has almost all of his wealth tied up in the company's stock, which means he's betting the company's long-term prospects and his vast fortune on the Metaverse, but investors' enthusiasm for the Metaverse doesn't seem to be very high at the moment. Let's wait and see whether Zuckerberg can make the Metaverse a success.

Forbes 400

The richest American on the Forbes list is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with an estimated income of $60.5 billion in 2022, up 11%. The SpaceX tycoon is currently worth $251 billion.

In second and third place are Jeff Bezos ($151 billion) and Bill Gates ($106 billion), founders of Amazon and Microsoft. In fourth place is Larry Ellison, CEO and founder of Oracle ($101 billion) and Berkshire Hathaway. In fifth place is Warren Buffett, founder of the largest shareholder on the planet ($97 billion).

It is learned that Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, ranked 6th and 7th with assets of $93 billion and $89 billion respectively. They are followed by businessman Steve Ballmer, who ran Microsoft from 2004 to 2014, with $83 billion.

Editor ✎Estella/

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